


The little things I love

by Zoya113



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: F/M, Familial Love, Platonic Love, Romantic love, Snippets, some cute friendship stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-09 21:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20516804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113
Summary: Some of the little things Emma loves about all of her friends





	The little things I love

Emma bustled through the hallways, shouldering past people in the sea of students. 

She had one day off and decided it was best to catch up on her studies in the library but she hadn’t taken into account the several other classes that were starting and ending as she stepped foot on campus. 

Students packed into the corridors, not paying much mind to her as they hurried off to their classes. 

She caught one elbow to the back of her head and grunted, flinching away from the hit and deciding to walk closer to the walls. 

As the paths slowly started to clear she could finally look up. “Oh thank god,” she rubbed the back of her neck with a heavy sigh. 

“Ah!” An excited gasp grabbed her attention and she looked up. 

Hidgens was strolling down the hallway with a smile. “Emma!” He exclaimed, just content to see her. 

“Hi!” She beamed back. “Good day at work so far?” 

He nodded as he always did. “Off to the library?”   
“Yeah, gotta get in some study!” She loved the way that always earned a smile from him. 

“Good job, Emma,” he gave her a pat on the shoulder as he walked past. “You keep up the hard work!” 

“I will! See you tomorrow!” They exchanged one last smile between the two of them, and suddenly Emma forgot about the bruise forming on her neck. 

—————————————————————————

“Hi Char, is Paul in?” Emma took a seat in Paul’s empty chair. 

“Oh! Hello Emma, you’ve just missed him, he’s just gone to the bathroom. He’ll be back in a moment. How are you!” 

Emma gave a nod. “Not too busy at work today. Just thought I’d drop off Paul’s coffee now that I had a moment.” 

“How sweet of you!” Charlotte smiled, closing her tabs and turning in her office chair to face her. She gave her her full attention. “A quiet moment is a good moment as I like to say!” She laughed at her own saying. 

“Busy here?” Emma asked, killing time before Paul returned. 

“No, not really. Just the usual work,” Charlotte glanced over at the door. “Paul’s still not back! Oh, I have an idea!” She scrambled for her phone and Emma grinned, rolling Paul’s office chair over to Charlotte’s desk.  
“You should see- oh! I have the loveliest video of my little baby, she was chasing her laser pointer this morning. I just have to show you, you’ll love the video!” Charlotte fiddled about on her phone for a moment, not quite sure how to work it to find her videos. 

“Here,” Emma leant over, opening up the photos app and selecting her videos for her.  
“Wow! You’re so smart, Emma,” Charlotte let out a pleased noise as she pulled up the video for Emma.

She loved showing her videos of her cat. Emma would be pretty confident in saying that Charlotte loved her cat more than Sam or Ted, maybe even the both of them combined. 

The video was filmed poorly, she was clearly too interested in her cat to focus on filming - her thumb was covering the corner of the camera and it was already tilted too far down. Charlotte’s genuinely happy laughter filled the video, covering up the grey cat’s tiny meows. 

“Oh, you guys have fun,” Emma chuckled. “He’s getting big isn’t he?” 

Charlotte nodded, thrilled to get a chance to talk about her cat. “Yes! Well he’s been tricking Sam into feeding him after I’ve already fed him! Tricky little baby!” 

“Back,” Paul announced as he entered the IT office, wiping his hands down on his pants. “Oh! Em!” He shot her a surprised smile. 

“Sorry babe, I stole your chair.” 

“That’s all good,” he looked over to Charlotte. “You’re showing her the cat video too?” 

Charlotte nodded and laughed guiltily. “Oh but it just makes me so happy!” 

Emma snorted, rolling Paul’s chair back to his desk and standing up so he could sit down. “I love hearing more about her cat. Paul, let’s get a cat.” 

“I thought you wanted a dog?” 

“Let’s get both.” 

“We aren’t getting both.” 

“Boo,” Emma frowned, crossing her arms in mock detest. 

Charlotte waved off Emma and Paul’s lover’s spat with a dismissive hand. “Oh Emma, don’t worry about him! You can come and see my cat whenever you like!”

———————————————————

“Yeah, no I’m all good to work overtime tomorrow. We’ve got to get it done. You want to stay with me?” Paul had his phone wedged between his shoulder and his ear, his hands busy typing up something.   
“Oh perfect! We have until the end of the week. It won’t take long. I can get some of that thermal tape for the fan. Yeah, I’ll pick it up on my way to work.” 

“God, I love you nerds and your computer talk,” Emma glanced over Paul’s shoulder at his word document, satisfied with knowing she didn’t understand a word. 

“We’re fixing Mr. Davidson’s computer. He absolutely busted it on Monday,” Paul chuckled. His laugh was cut short and his eyes slide to the side, “oh, yeah Bill, sorry, I was just talking to Emma.”

Paul smiled as Bill responded, briefly taking his phone away from his ear and turning to look at Emma. “Bill says hi, and he hopes you’re doing well.”

Emma laughed, clearing her throat and speaking loud enough for Bill to hear on the other end. “Hey Bill! How are you!” 

“Bill says he’s good!” Paul relayed their messages.   
“That’s good Bill! How’s Alice?” Emma waited for his response with a keen smile.

Paul paused to listen for his response. “Bill says Alice is great, just went to parent teacher interviews and she’s doing so well! Bill says thanks for asking, but Paul says I love you but I’ve got to talk to my friend and get this project done,” he slipped his phone back between his shoulder and gave Emma one last patient smile before turning back to his laptop. 

“Okay, bye Bill! Nice talking to you! Paul says I’ve gotta stop!” Emma called back, hoping he could hear her on the other end. 

“Bye Emma!” Bill’s response was so loud that Paul flinched away from his phone and it tumbled off his shoulder and landed with a smack on his desk.

“Thanks babe,” Paul stared at his phone in defeat for a moment before picking it up. “Now, I’ve got work to do.” 

Emma nodded, gushing herself and giving Paul a silent thumbs up. 

“I know you like talking with Bill but he was my friend first so, back off,” Paul teased. 

God, Paul has some good coworkers. 

———————————————————

‘Hey Em, Em guess what’

Emma got the message just as she went on break.

‘What’s up Mel? I’m just on my break, wanna call?’ 

Melissa rang instead of replying and Emma answered as she threw herself down on the break room couch.

“You caught me at the perfect time.”

“Yeah, I know. You told me you go on break at 12:30.”

Emma chuckled. “Aw, you remembered! So what’s up?” 

Melissa’s voice faulted on the other end as if she tried to talk to quickly. The secretary had a never-ending enthusiasm. 

“So you know how I was telling you about that asshole on my softball team?” 

Emma vocalised a ‘yeah’ sound, her skin prickling with excitement. Melissa had a specific tone to her voice when she thought she was saying something interesting, and Emma knew she had gossip. 

“Well guess who rocks up as a client today!” Melissa exclaimed. 

“No way!” Emma leant forward, clutching her phone closer to her ear. 

“Yeah, well she rocks up and she’s like ‘ooh Melissa!’” The secretary put on a mocking accent. “‘I didn’t know you worked here! So did you see that pitch from Kelly? It was so bad right!’ Like bitch! Kelly is my friend I’m not pissing on her pitch just because she isn’t here! And as if her pitch is anything compared to god damn-“ her voice stammered as if she could find the right words. “Girl!” She has decided not to swear it seemed, sobering down from the height of her rant. “And she was talking with this guy from sales and she was like ‘oh I’m friends with Melissa can I get a discount?’”

Emma stuck out her tongue. “Man, imagine being a shitty softball player, a shitty person and a shitty customer. Combo. And disrespecting retail workers in 2019? Not cute.” 

She could practically hear Melissa rolling her eyes. “Ugh! I know! Tell me about it! I’ve got a billion bad stories!” 

Emma eyed the clock on the wall with a grin. “And I’ve got the time to listen!” 

———————————————————

“I’m going to lose my shit if I get one more customer coming in here with a fifty dollar bill,” Emma seethed, counting them in her hands. “You can’t change them for anything.” 

“Except one hundred dollar bills,” Zoey countered.

“If you’ve got one hundred dollar bills in your wallet go to fuckin’-“ Emma gestured down the street. “Starbucks or some shit.” 

Nora shoved her keys into her pocket as she hung up her apron. “Yeah. I’ve had a few customers come in for two dollar drinks and then hand over hundred dollar bills.”

“The nerve,” Zoey hissed. “I mean it’s fine if they’re nice and they apologise but some people!” 

Emma finished the till and sighed. “And it throws off the balance as well! There’s not hundred dollar button on the till.” 

“That’s because people shouldn’t have them,” Nora grunted, locking the back door. “But we don’t say that about our customers okay? They’re paying your hours girls,” Nora warned. 

“Got it, sorry!” Emma apologised. “I’ll see you tomorrow Nora, I’m in for the closing shift.” 

“Neat, me too,” Zoey added. “Bye Nora!” 

Nora waved them goodbye as she finished closing up. “Have a good night, girls.” 

Zoey and Emma headed in the same direction once they left. 

“Good, Nora can’t hear now so let the record show I couldn’t give two shits about our customers,” Zoey declared the second the door shut.

Emma let out one loud, surprised laugh. “Hah!” It wasn’t something she was expecting. “No man, me neither. Some of them are such assholes. ‘Ooh, my coffee isn’t scalding hot I want a refund and I want you fired! Let me see your manager!’ I hate that bullshit,” Emma groaned. 

“I had a guy say that to me the other day and I was like oop, well that’s me. Get out of my cafe.” 

Emma nodded with a droning moan. “Customers! Honestly Zoey, do they deserve rights?” 

Zoey didn’t waste time shaking her head. “None. Not at all. I’m revoking their rights as we speak.”

“Good, someone has to do it,” Emma joked. 

“This is my stop,” Zoey pointed at the bus shelter before waving Emma goodbye, her eyes slipping down to her phone. 

“Bye Zoey, see you tomorrow,” she gave her a thumbs up, heading further down the street to where Paul was parked.

“Good day at work?” Paul asked upon seeing her smile. 

Emma shrugged, glancing at Zoey in her side mirror. “Yeah, not too bad.”   
———————————————————

“Oh! Look who it is!” Ted announced teasingly as he invited himself into Paul’s office. “Short stack!”

“Nice to see you too, Borat,” Emma rolled her eyes. 

Paul gave a sigh, awaiting their inevitable feud. He ducked his head back down to his computer as Emma stood up, crossing the room to meet him halfway.

“Every time I drop by to see my good friend Paul I run into my best friend Emma!” He held out his arms as if he were asking for a hug. “You’re really talented at showing up where you aren’t expecting, huh?” 

“You knew I’d be here,” Emma tossed her head back like she was getting a headache. 

“Well it’s pretty easy to miss you when you’re that short.” He held out one arm as if to measure her height compared to him, he gestured to his kneecaps. “Wow, you’re growing fast!”

“Oh asshole,” Emma stuck out her tongue. “One day I’ll be taller than you,” she delivered a swift kick to his shins and he sneered at her, faking pain.

“Well, then you can join me at the grown-up’s table. But in the mean time, the adults are talking.” He crossed by Emma, placing down some papers on Paul’s desk. “Can you get these back to me by the end of the week?” 

Paul reviewed them quickly. “Yeah, not a problem. Thanks Ted.”

Ted gave Emma a fake salute as he headed out of the office. “Catch you next time, kid.” 

“Not if I catch you first!” 

———————————————————

“Nah, look. He’s gonna die,” Paul pointed at a character on the TV. “He raised his death flag with that whole ‘I have a wife and two children at home’ speech.” 

“Oh yeah man,” Emma winced. “The hat guy’s gonna get axed.” She shifted on the couch, tugging the blanket to her side of the couch. 

Paul tugged it back. “Ted told me this movie was great but so far it’s just...” he trailed off.

“A piece of shit? Yeah,” Emma turned the volume down on the TV. “I’ve seen a few dozen horror movies in my time and well this one, this ones just... oooh.” She pulled at the blanket, drawing it up to her neck. 

Paul grimaced. “So we’re playing this game?” 

“What game?” She batted her eyelashes innocently.

Paul raised his chin, “You can’t trick me with that innocent act, Perkins.” And then he pulled the blanket back.

“What act?” She readjusted herself on the couch as an excuse to yank the blanket back up. 

“I’m cold, Em.” He pulled the blanket, yanking too hard this time to the point Emma had no blanket left. 

“Hey!” Emma gaped, pressing her feet up against Paul’s legs. 

“Em!” He recoiled. “Your feet are so cold!” 

Emma stuck her tongue out and grabbed the blanket with both hands, tearing it to her side of the couch and wrapping herself up so Paul couldn’t grab it. “That’s why I need the blanket!” She pointed out. “It’s chilly!” 

“You’re asking for it, Em!” He grabbed her around the waist, immobilising her in her blanket cocoon and dragging her to his side of the couch. 

“Ah! Cheater!” Emma growled. 

Paul leant down to kiss her forehead. “Thief,” Paul retorted. “This is only fair if you won’t let go of the blanket.” He held his arms around her so she couldn’t go back to her side of the couch. “You gotta stay here now,” he stared down at her and she stared back into his eyes. 

Then she saw the corner of his lips twitch, and she felt her own quivering, and then neither of them could hold back.

She burst out with a cackling laugh first and he followed suit.  
She could feel his every laugh and she fought her way free of her blanket prison to laugh a little more freely.   
They had to stop eventually, her sides had started to hurt and Paul’s eyes were watery.   
“You’re a dumbass,” Emma lifted her neck to give Paul a quick kiss. 

“No, look. I solved the problem.” With Emma lying on his chest the blanket finally covered the both of them. “It’s better with you closer anyways.” 

“Aww, you’re too sappy, man,” Emma jeered, but she was enjoying every moment of it. 

“Oh-!” Paul gaped, looking back over at the movie they had forgotten about. “Hey look, we missed it.” 

“Aw man, the hat guy died and we didn’t even see,” Emma frowned. “Oh well. You totally called it,” Emma looked up at Paul as she spoke.

And at the same time, he looked down. They met eyes, and then the laughter started all over again. 

“Man, I know I have to watch this shitty movie but at least I get to watch it with my best friend.” She entwined their fingers under the sheets. 

“Who’s being sappy now?” Paul cooed. 

“Shut it, Matthews. I said nothing.”


End file.
